


More or Less

by sakurahaiku



Series: Wands and Such (A Collection of Mostly Related Harry Potter Stories) [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, I hate myself for having so many tags, over protective molly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 04:27:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10506315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sakurahaiku/pseuds/sakurahaiku
Summary: Molly loves all of her children-in-law.More or less.(Or: how Molly learns to love and accept the people her children fall in love with)





	

**Author's Note:**

> The best thing about my law class is that it's really easy to not pay attention and write fan fiction. I'm not kidding. I literally wrote this entire thing in 2 and a half hours in my night class. 
> 
> Honestly I think the last time I wrote fan fiction at such a fast pace was like 2011, which was the peak of my Pokemon fan fiction days back on ff.net. How time flies. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy this little story!

Molly remembers the first time she saw Fleur. It was the final task of the Triwizard Tournament, and she had gone to Hogwarts to cheer Harry on. She didn’t know anything about the Beauxbatons champion, but decided, upon seeing her standing outside the overbearing walls of the maze, that the girl was beautiful. She was still beautiful when she came out of it, screaming and sputtering and scared. Molly didn’t pay much attention to the girl, to be honest; she was far more concerned with what was happening to Harry inside that maze and how she couldn’t help her unofficial son.

 

She was not happy, however, when it was Fleur who Bill eventually brought home. She had been waiting for her eldest son to bring home a girl for years now, and she was not impressed. She had imagined that her future daughter-in-law would be something different from Fleur. No matter how Bill talked up his girlfriend, no matter how many times Arthur told her to give the girl a chance, Molly just could not approve. There was something wrong, and she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. At any rate, Fleur just was not good enough for her little boy.

 

Molly changes her mind on Fleur after the Battle of the Astronomy Tower. Fleur fights alongside them even though this isn’t her battle and it isn’t her war. Fleur cries over Bill, proclaims her love, says that nothing Molly can do can stop her from loving the eldest son. Molly looks at Fleur, tears in both sets of eyes, and wonders why she didn’t see this courageous, wonderful girl before. Molly caves in, gives her blessing, and learns to love the girls who, in a few months, would be her second daughter.

 

As Molly ages – gracefully, she would have you know – she takes comfort in her first child-in-law. She brought Fleur into her heart in the aftermath of a battle fought long ago, and she loves her dearly. She teaches Fleur to knit, to cook, and (unintentionally) how to be a mother. Molly gives her second daughter all of her love, as if it hadn’t been any different.

 

* * *

 

Molly meets Audrey the day Percy went for his second year at Hogwarts. She had been concerned, as had her husband, that her third eldest hadn’t been exchanging letters with the same fervor as Bill and Charlie. She was scared that Percy hadn’t made anything more than acquaintances during his first year. Her fears are alleviated when the entire Weasley clan hears an excited “Percy!” ring through the crowded halls of Kings Cross. Molly watches as a small, auburn-haired girl runs up and pulls Percy into a hug. The pair talks animatedly, and are eventually joined by another boy. Molly is relieved that Percy has friends by his side and she excitedly asks her son’s companions for their names.

 

Audrey remains a permanent fixture in Percy’s life, much to Molly’s relief, and she always makes sure to ask Percy about her (and Oliver) every time he’s home on a break. She listens to stories about Oliver and Quidditch, Audrey and divination and tries to remember every detail. Unlike her other children, Percy seems to only have two friends (eventually three, if you count Penelope Clearwater – but Molly doesn’t; she didn’t like the girl) and so she makes sure that Percy’s stories about his friends are heard, so he knows that his friends are important to her.

 

So when Percy, about two months after the war had ended, reintroduces Audrey to her as his girlfriend, Molly was overjoyed. Percy had been lost to her for two years now, but he had never been lost to Audrey. Under any other circumstances she would have said that Audrey wasn’t worthy for her son, that she lacked a similar drive and work ethic to Percy, but this didn’t matter, not now. What was important to Molly was that Percy had someone who loved him unconditionally, who wouldn’t leave his side. Audrey had more than proven herself in that capacity, and Molly was happy for it.

 

And its Molly who helps Audrey during the difficult months of her two pregnancies. Molly silently cursed Audrey’s parents, because who could possibly leave such a beautiful and bright girl during such important moments of her life. Audrey, who had been separate from her family pretty much since birth, relished in Molly’s overzealous attitude to mothering. Audrey, who needed the help more than anything, made sure to visit her mother-in-law weekly. And Molly was happier for it.

 

* * *

 

 

Molly heard Angelina’s name before she ever met her. Looking back, Molly wonders why she hadn’t met her earlier. Molly meets Angelina about a year and a half after the war ends, and Molly has stories upon stories come to mind about the young witch. She knew that Angelina played Quidditch – a chaser – professionally, she knew that Angelina was in the same year as George at Hogwarts. She knew the name; Molly just didn’t know what the girl looked like. She’s pretty, Molly decides, with smiling eyes. Her laugh harmonizes with George’s in a way that almost causes Molly to cry.

 

But she also knows that Angelina was Fred’s childhood girlfriend. It was Fred who took Angelina to the Yule Ball. It was Fred who sent letters to Angelina over summer holidays. It was Fred who Molly had chastised for having a girlfriend and not bringing her home to the meet the family. None of this was George. Because of this, Molly held resentment against Angelina. In her eyes, Angelina was using her precious son as a replacement for someone who was no longer there. Even though there was no denying that Angelina made George happy, Molly was concerned that it was a temporary happiness, and Molly wanted more than that for her child.

 

But Angelina was prepared to fight to prove that George wasn’t a replacement, that she saw him as a whole, wonderful person who was his own. Whenever Molly pushed, Angelina pulled. She made sure to show Molly how much by George’s side she was. Eventually, two years into the courtship, Angelina showed up at the Burrow unannounced, asking if she could speak to Molly. The two drank tea as Angelina explained that she knew exactly why Molly was hesitant and unaccepting about her relationship with George. She explained that, yes, once upon a time she had loved a boy named Fred Weasley. She also explained how she fell out of love with that boy. She explained how she realized she had been so, so close to finding the person she fit best with years ago, but she had found him now and she was not going to let George go. She begged Molly to understand her point of view, until Molly conceded. Any girl, the older woman decided, who would fight this hard for one of her sons was worthy of the boy.

 

Molly has always felt horrible for how hard Angelina had to fight, though. In a way, Angelina faced the biggest barriers out of all of the children-in-law. Molly would go to sleep repeating that fateful conversation with Angelina over and over in her head. She asked Arthur if she had been too harsh, too judgmental. To make up for it, she tries to plan the perfect wedding for the two.

 

They elope, and Molly decides that’s more or less fine. More or less.

 

* * *

 

 

For Molly, Hermione requires no words. She may not have loved the girl originally, not like she had with Harry, but she was grateful for the presence the girl had in Ron’s and her family’s life. Ron talked excitedly about his two friends the summer after his first year, and she’s happy to meet the girl. Molly finds Hermione to be well-mannered and sweet, and silently hums a tone of approval for her friendship with her son. This approval, and eventual love, stays even while Hermione is involved with the trouble that Ron (and Harry) find themselves in. Molly worries, and worries, and worries about the three of them. But every year Hermione gets presents alongside Harry, and is invited to family gatherings and get-togethers. Molly already knows this is a foregone conclusion; she accepted Hermione as her daughter-in-law years before she and Ron ever became a couple.

 

The only time when that love wavered is during the Triwizard Tournament, when the Prophet is saying all sorts of things about Hermione and her relationships with Harry and Viktor Krum. Molly stews in anger, wondering if Hermione is stringing her youngest son alongside the other two. She’s relieved to know that none of it was true (though from the giggling that goes on between Hermione and Ginny, she knows that something happened during the tournament, with some boy or another).

 

So when Ron and Hermione – finally – announce that they’re dating, Molly is overjoyed. Hermione already gets Weasley sweaters, already has a seat at the dinner table, and there’s nothing more Molly has left to give her except more love. She watches with joy as the couple bickers, honey dripping through the words. She sees how Ron looks at Hermione, and Molly wonders if Ron would have ever married someone if Hermione had never come into his life.

 

So Molly continues to love Hermione as a daughter, as she always had. She soothes Hermione through pre-wedding jitters, calms the pregnancy worries, supplements Mrs. Granger’s muggle pregnancy medicine with magical ones. She takes Hermione into her heart and leaves her there.

 

* * *

 

 

If Hermione requires no words, Molly decides, Harry requires less. She loved him immediately, and as fiercely as one of her own children. In truth, she considered the boy part of her brood the moment Ron and Fred and George bring him back the Burrow when he’s twelve. She knits him sweaters, she mothers him, she tries to fill in for Lilly for all the important events he deserves a mother for. She knows she can’t quite measure up, but she tries all the same.

She knew Ginny had a crush on Harry, but she never imagined how serious it would become. She never knew the two dated when he was sixteen and she was fifteen. Molly never knew how they pined after each other while he was off finding horcruxes and she was stuck in school. However, Molly was not thrilled with the way their (second) relationship came to public fruition. It was Molly who found them, the day before Ginny went off for her seventh year of school, snogging the lips off each other in the orchard. It’s a lot of screaming, entirely between Molly and her daughter. But when the shouting subsides Harry apologizes for their behaviour, and Molly can’t find it in her to stay mad at the boy. After the life he’s lived, she can’t blame him for falling in love (and she can’t begrudge his choice in partner). But she can blame him for kissing her daughter where everyone can see, and she doesn’t tell off her sons for glaring at the couple that night.

 

Three years later, Harry comes to the Burrow. He’s always welcome, of course, but Molly can tell something is off due to the timing of the visit. Harry comes during a time when only Arthur and Molly are home, and Harry is acting nervous in a way she doesn’t even think Voldemort made him feel. The three of them have a cup and Harry sputters out the reason for his visit – he wants their blessing to ask Ginny to marry him. Molly cries and cries and cries and expresses her surprise; of course he can have their blessing, he doesn’t even have to ask.

 

And Molly cries again during the ceremony as she gives her only daughter away to the only man she would ever consider worthy of Ginny. After all, is it really giving her child away if the groom has already cemented his place in her heart as her son? She plays both mother of the bride and mother of the groom, she tries to put enough attention on both Harry and Ginny. She knows that there’s a part of Harry that wants Lilly and James (and Sirius and Remus and Albus) to be there, and Molly hopes that she suffices.

 

And as Molly grows older, and as Harry and Ginny and all the rest started having their own children, Harry continued to be a constant visitor at the Burrow. Molly knows that he loves her deeply; he had never had a mother, and she was close enough. She loves him too, more fiercely that Harry can ever imagine. Out of all her children-in-law, she has the best relationship with Harry, and none of the others even begrudge Harry for it.

 

* * *

 

Molly constantly nags Charlie to please, please bring someone home. A girl, a boy, she doesn’t care at this point. She hates to see him living life alone, with only dragons for company. She understands that Charlie says that love’s not for him, but she wants him to reconsider that point.

 

One day she gets a letter saying that he’ll bring someone to the Burrow with him. Molly gathers the entire family for what she deems is a momentous occasion. Charlie shows up with no one except for a living, fire-breathing model of a dragon in his pocket. Everyone except Molly laughs.

 

Charlie sleeps out in Arthur’s shed that night, and Molly decides that it’s the dragons she has the worst relationship with out of all her children-in-law.

 

The bloody dragons.

**Author's Note:**

> Molly hating the dragons is a head canon I think a lot of us can get behind. 
> 
> I wasn't sure what to write for Hermione and Harry, but this was the closest I could get my feelings into words.


End file.
